Prove To You
by Infinite Drops of Rain
Summary: Sparrowpaw is constantly judged for her looks, her skills, and her background. So when a prophecy comes up stating that a group of cats must go to the mountains, Sparrowpaw leaps at the chance. It's the only way to prove herself to the clan. But as the group continues the journey, she has to wonder: was she even meant to go on the journey at all? Or did she just doom the mission?
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Someday you'll understand," she would tell me whenever I complained of hunger, or being cold, or never having a real home. She'd give me a sad little smile and lick the top of my head.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I wish I could change things for you, but I can't."

She was right. She couldn't change it. She couldn't change anything about our life. But then the day came when she found that somebody else could.

When she woke up that day, she was buzzing with excitement. She kept saying, "This is the day, sweetheart. This is the day our lives will change."

We traveled all the way from the dark alley where we spent our nights to the lush, vibrant green forest nearby. I looked around, awed by all the sights and smells. It was a refreshing break from the dirty, smelly alley, where life was a constant battle and food was scarce.

She caught a mouse and we both ate it, reveling in the pure, earthy taste. We settled down by a lake, drinking the clear, fresh water.

"This is what our lives will be like forever," she told me. "We'll be happy and safe here. There are cats living by this lake who will be happy to take us in."

"What are they like?" I asked, snuggling up next to her.

She purred. It had been such a long time since I'd heard her purr, and I was reminded of how much I loved it.

"The cats here are kind," she began. "They're loving, noble, and honest. They protect the weak and fight the evil."

I stared at her, hanging onto every word.

"These cats are warriors," she said. "They'll protect us. They'll let us in." She licked a wayward tuft of fur on the top of my head. "This is the beginning of our new life, sweetheart. Once they let us in, we won't have to go to sleep hungry anymore. We'll have a real home."

"That sounds amazing," I breathed, and for a moment her smile faded.

"A kit like you shouldn't have to worry about food and shelter." She curled up around me. "You're still so young, so sweet. But don't worry," she added. "It'll be okay now. Everything will be okay."

We fell asleep like that, calm and happy, by the lake. But I awoke to shouting.

"You can't trespass on our territory!" The voice was a tom's, angry and unfamiliar. I opened my eyes to find him snarling at her, hackles raised, tabby fur spiked.

"I thought you would take us in!" She was equally angry, and although half a head shorter than the tom, stared at him defiantly.

"What's going on?" I asked, scrambling to my feet. "Who are you?"

The tom seemed to notice me for the first time. He frowned and looked at her. "You have a kit?"

"Yes." She looked at him levelly. "And we have no place to go. Please let us in."

"Is that a warrior?" I whispered.

She nodded, but her attention was on the tom. "Please," she said.

The tom relented. "Alright. I'll take you to our leader. Make sure your kit keeps up," he added.

We walked for awhile, trudging through bushes and brambles. I tripped several times over all the leaves and sticks on the ground. But the tom was obviously used to it; he weaved easily through the trees and bushes and didn't even seem to notice all the stuff on the ground.

We finally arrived at a large clearing surrounded by brambles and ferns.

"Welcome to our camp," he said proudly.

"What's a camp?" I asked, but she shushed me, which left me worried. She'd never, ever told me to be quiet before. What was going on?

"Thrushstar!" the tom called, striding into the camp. _Thrushstar?_ What a weird name.

A tiny tabby tom slithered out of a mass of rock, moss, and lichen into the center of the camp. "Oakpelt? Who are these?" His voice was soft but intense.

The tom, Oakpelt, shifted uneasily from paw to paw. "I found them on our territory. They wish to join our clan."

"You want to join our clan?" His voice was disbelieving to the point of being rude. A few cats walked into the camp to see what the matter was.

"Why not?" I asked crossly. She pushed her tail over my mouth.

"I apologize," she said coolly. "But yes, we want to join your.. er... clan. We don't have a home, and we're starving."

Thrushstar frowned, eyeing us up and down. When his eyes met mine, I instinctively ducked and averted my gaze. He was barely bigger than I was, but he exuded leadership and confidence.

Finally, after a few agonizing seconds of waiting, he spoke.

"The kit can stay, but the she-cat must go."

"What?" I jerked my head up, staring at Thrushstar in horror. "No! She can't leave!"

Thrushstar ignored me. "I'm sorry," he continued. "But we have enough warriors and queens. We can't take in any loner who wants to join. We're only taking in the kit because of the Warrior Code."

"The Warrior Code?" I asked, scowling at him. "Please let her in. She's worked so hard. She needs a home, too."

"No. It's fine." She looked at me, smiling slightly. "It's fine," she repeated. "I only wanted you to have a good life, and now you'll be able to do that." She glanced at Thrushstar.

"Thank you," she said, her voice strong and steady. Then, without another word, she left the camp.

I stood there in stunned silence. What was I supposed to do now? She was gone. She was gone. She was gone.

It was only after she was out of sight that I realized that I didn't even know what her name was. I didn't know if she was my mother, or my sister, or some random cat who found me on the streets and took me in. I didn't know anything about her, even though I loved her with all my heart. Those thoughts were almost as painful as seeing her leave.

Without warning, tears began to well up in my eyes. Thrushstar was watching me, I knew; and so was Oakpelt and all those other cats who I was now supposed to live with. But I didn't care, because she was gone.

 **AN: Woo! First FFN story on this account! :D**

 **QOTD: who do you think the she-cat was? (sister, mother, foster mother, etc etc.)**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 _Several moons later..._

"Had enough, Sparrowpaw?"

"Ne...ver..." I choked, managing to land another weak blow on Spiderpaw's paw. The tom grinned, tightening his hold on me and completely cutting off my air.

"Spiderpaw! That's enough!" Through a blackening haze, I could see my mentor knocking Spiderpaw aside, and suddenly I could breathe again. "This is only a training exercise!"

I gasped, sitting up and rubbing my sore throat. Cedartail, my mentor, was glaring at Spiderpaw.

"We do not intend to harm our fellow apprentices during training exercises," he spat.

Spiderpaw shrugged. "I didn't hurt her too badly," he pointed out.

"That's not the point, Spiderpaw. You'll be spending the rest of the day cleaning out the elder's den."

"What?" whined Spiderpaw, eyes wide. "But that's not fair! I was only sharpening my battle skills! You should make Sparrowpaw clean the dens out," he added, casting a dark look at me. "It's not my fault she can't defend herself."

"Alright, that's it," Cedartail growled. "You'll be spending two days cleaning out the elder's dens."

"Why?"

"Three days."

"I didn't even-"

"Four days."

"Fine, fine! StarClan, Cedartail. Chill." Spiderpaw rolled his eyes and padded towards the camp.

Cedartail glanced at me. "You okay?"

"Yep," I croaked, massaging my throat. StarClan, it was sore.

There was an awkward pause.

"I'll make sure Spiderpaw apologizes," said Cedartail, shifting from one paw to another.

"Spiderpaw hates me," I stated flatly.

Cedartail's eyes widened. "What?" he protested. "No! He got carried away, definitely, but he doesn't hate you."

I shrugged. It was useless; Cedartail might've been a great warrior, but he was so clueless it was almost funny. And I knew that even he had a little seed of mistrust and dislike planted in his heart against me.

Why not? After all, I was the former loner. I was the worst fighter in the clan. I was the one nobody liked.

Actually, that wasn't true, strictly speaking. I had friends. But I could see their little fidgets whenever I was around, however involuntary they might have been. And they were never easy or carefree with me.

Sometimes it got a little... well... repetitive.

Cedartail and I headed back to the camp in silence, where the medicine cat gave me some herbs for my throat. Then she ordered that I stay in the medicine cat's den overnight, so she could check that my breathing was normal.

"I'm fine," I protested. "Really."

"No you're not," Sootflame, the medicine cat, snapped. "You can barely talk." She seemed angry, but then again, she was always angry. Sootflame would have been a great warrior, but she twisted her leg as an apprentice. She poured her anger and frustration onto her patients.

My eyes were starting to droop, and I looked outside. StarClan, was the sun setting already? I curled up in a ball, my head resting on my paws, and watched it go down. Stars, it was beautiful. A mixture of red and orange and purple surrounding a fiery ball of light. I was quite content like that, watching it go down, but of course Spiderpaw had to ruin it all.

He popped into the den, totally unannounced. He gave me a cursory glance, then looked at Sootflame.

"I scratched my paw on a thorn," he said, and I snorted, pleased to see that it was the same paw that had held me down earlier. "Can I get some herbs for it?"

"Yeah, sure." Sootflame pressed some cobweb and marigold into Spiderpaw's wound, grumbling. "StarClan, you apprentices are so careless."

"We sure are," said Spiderpaw brightly. "I mean, take Sparrowpaw here. She almost choked herself to death!"

I gasped, eyes wide.

"I did not!" I spat, scrambling to my paws and giving him a cuff on his ear. "You liar! You almost killed me!"

"An accident," he replied smoothly. "You should've been better prepared. Thanks for the herbs, Sootflame," he added, leaving the den.

Sootflame grunted.

I muttered some curses underneath my breath, and then flopped down on the ground, curling up in an exhausted heap. I soon drifted off, dreaming of getting even with Spiderpaw.

That was when the screams started.

 **Hey hey hey! Infinite here! Sorry about this chapter being weird, short and boring; I just wanted to fill you in on some stuff (which is perhaps not the best idea, but anyway). Spiderpaw's going to be a pretty important character, if you can't tell already. I apologize for the choppy ending. And a thank you to SleepyGhosty for being the first reviewer!**

 **I'll probably be writing more one-shots soon, by the way.**

 **I actually redid this chapter quite a few times; the first versions were weird, and I'm still not that happy with this one, but oh well. X'D**

 **QOTD: Who do you think was screaming?**


End file.
